Advice from a Cloth Diapering Novice

I’ve always wanted to cloth diaper my kids, but as all working moms know, daycares will not accept cloth diapers and understandably so! Now that I work from home and am with my little guy all day, I finally have the opportunity to do it. So what have I learned so far?

Like you probably have, I had a lot of questions. Doesn’t it take a lot more time? Isn’t it messier? Do they really get clean? Does the baby actually prefer them? Is it only for tree huggers? Why would you go through all that effort when you can just take off a disposable one and throw it away?

How do I clean them? Do I really want them in my washing machine where other clothes go? What do I use to clean them? Where do I store them until I’m ready to wash them? Do they really get clean enough? What brand do I get? Will I even be able to handle it or will I just waste my money deciding I hate it? Which brand is best?

I understand the concerns, I understand the perspectives, and I totally get why someone would choose not to go this route. So why did I choose cloth over disposable?

After a lot of resistance from everyone around me, I didn’t let it sway my decision. So why did I decide that cloth diapering was the best option for us? There are a couple reasons:

They’re cheaper! I try to cut costs wherever I can and I view the purchase of disposable diapers as unnecessary when I am at home and able to wash cloth ones.

I don’t have to run out to the store to buy disposables when I’m running out, so I value the convenience.

They prevent more diaper rash than disposables. The only diaper rash baby has had since his birth was after prolonged use of disposables which we were doing when we came home from the hospital.

They are less smelly. I tend to get to them pretty quickly to not only prevent stains but to prevent smells. As a result, I do not have to deal with the smells of diaper genies or smelly trash cans. If they do sit for a bit, they have already been rinsed with soap.

How do you treat them?

I use a diaper sprayer that is attached to my toilet. After the diaper is soiled, I spray the contents into the toilet. Then, I rinse the diaper with dish soap until the diaper is mostly clean. Then, the diaper is washed in the washing machine. I do one load of diapers every other day.

How do I use them?

I thought using cloth diapers was pretty cut and dry until I decided to start using them. I realized there were tons of snaps on them and I had no idea what they were for.

These particular diapers are adjustable and used for all sizes from newborn on. The snaps are used to adjust the diaper to fit certain sizes.

I chose to buy inexpensive diapers because I didn’t know if cloth diapering was something I was going to have time to do or whether it was going to make me feel overwhelmed or not. I bought 10 diapers to start with, figuring that would last me a day until I could wash them. So far, 10 has been perfect, but I will probably purchase 10 more to give me a day or two between washes.

These particular diapers come with inserts. These inserts just slip into these pockets. Each diaper comes with two, but for a newborn, I have found one to be sufficient. Some people like them and some don’t. I haven’t found them to be difficult to use or any extra work.

To adjust the size of the diaper for a newborn, just fold the bottom snap up to the next row of snaps and secure.

I can’t say how I will feel about them once baby starts on solid food, but I love them so far! I don’t regret my decision at all and I love the money I’m saving and the convenience of not having to drop everything and run out to buy some disposables.

How about you? Are you on the fence about going the cloth route? What is holding you back?